综合写作：
Writing | Question 1 of 2
Lions are the only species of large cats that live in groups. Female lions especially tend to band together, forming prides (extended family groups) with their daughters, sisters, and cousins. This unique evolutionary trait must yield important benefits to the survival of the species. Researchers have identified several possible reasons why lions have evolved to live in groups, when most other cats, such as leopards, tigers, and cheetahs, do not.
First
Some researchers suggest that female lions have evolved to live in groups because they benefit from feeding their young cooperatively. Within a pride, female lions that give birth around the same time form a nursery group and are almost inseparable for the next one to two years. Long – term observation of lions in the wild confirms that young cubs can nurse (drink milk) from any female in the nursery group, not just their own mother.
Second
Lions employ hunting tactics that require group cooperation. Research shows that lions perform highly differentiated roles in group hunts. For example, some lions almost always join a hunt only in its final stages, after other lions have begun chasing the prey. Cooperative hunting seems to be precisely coordinated to maximize the chances of catching challenging prey. Living in groups, therefore, may help lions to obtain food more efficiently.
Finally, some zoologists have proposed that female lions form social groups to defend their cubs from danger. Adult male lions are the biggest threat to cubs. Sometimes a male lion takes over a female group, and when this happens the male attempts to kill all cubs in the group so that the mothers will be ready to mate and reproduce again. Male lions are larger than females, and it takes several females to chase away a male. If males were able to kill cubs frequently, there might not be enough cubs reaching adulthood, so females form groups to repel takeover attempts by males.
学术写作：
Instructions
Your professor is teaching a class on sociology. Write a post responding to the professor’s question.
In your response you should do the following:
- Express and support your opinion.
- Make a contribution to the discussion in your own words.
An effective response will contain at least 100 words.
Dr. Diaz
This week, we are going to discuss companies’ policies for promotion. Companies tend to value different things and set different criteria for determining who deserves a promotion. Criteria for promotion may include employees’ performance and achievements in their current roles, seniority within the company, years of experience in the field, or even leadership potential. In today’s post, I would like you to discuss which criteria for promotion you see as the most important and explain why.
Andrew
I believe that when considering promotions, managers should reward employees’ seniority, or how many years have stayed with the company. By promoting the employees who have been with the company longer than others, managers show that they value employee loyalty. This might discourage people from jumping from job to job.
Claire
I disagree with Andrew because even if employees have many years of work experience or company loyalty, it does not mean they have better skills. In my opinion, it is more important to look at employees’ job performance. If employees are excelling in their current roles, this better indicates their readiness for the next step in their careers.
